As weroundedthe
last cornerandlookeddown
toCollioure,
we knew that this was thecity
wehadbeen searching
for.Smalland
large (nottoobig)
houses on theheightsandhillsthatsurroundan
idyllic,oldtown
withcastles
and towersand
abeautiful
small bay withthebluest Mediterranean
seayoucould imagine.The
slopesaroundthe
town are dominatedby
a number ofwine
yards,
andhigh
upon
themountainbehind
the townrisesacharacteristiccastle.

Collioure is located in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon in southern
France, about 30 km south of Perpignan and about 35 km from the Spanish
border, counted by road via Le Boulou.

The name Collioure is pronounced in French: kåljure and in Catalan:
cotlliure, and the city is a municipality with about 3000 inhabitants,
in the department Pyrenees-Orientales.

The city is situated on the Mediterranean coast, the part which stretches from Argeles-sur-Mer and south to the Spanish border and is known as Côte
Vermeille (Catalan: Costa Vermella, which means "vermilion coast").

The landscape here, at the end of the Pyrenees, is hilly with a rocky,
jagged and varied coastline. Only a few miles farther north begin the
sunny sandy beaches which Southern France is so famous for, and which
extends for miles north to the Rohne delta.

The picture:

View towards the north,
Argelès-sur-Mer and the coastline of the Golfe du Lion

History
Collioure thus belong in the ancient landscape of Catalonia which was a
flourishing province already in the Roman Empire. At the beginning of
the 400-century Catalonia was occupied by the Germanic Visigoths and
later by the moors (712). Emperor Charlemagne incorporated the area in
his kingdom, and called it Marca Hispanica (The Spanish Land). Marca
Hispanica were divided into 15 counties with Barcelona as the most
important. When Charles II died in 888, the county of Barcelona
became independent and took the name Principality of Catalonia.

In 1137 Catalonia was, along with Valencia and the Balearic Islands,
incorporate in the Kingdom of Aragon. Under Ferdinand II of Aragon
(1452-1516) Catalonia became a part of Spain.

Kingdom of Majorca (Mallorca) was
established by James I of Aragon ("The Conqueror") who reigned as king
of Aragon from 1213 to 1276.

The kingdom of Majorca existed from 1276 to 1349, and included the
Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Formentera and Ibiza), the counties
of Rousillon and Cerdagne (today's northern Catalonia), and the
territories James had in Occitania (Montpellier, Carlades and
barony of Aumelas). Capital of this kingdom was, because of trade and
diplomacy, on the mainland in Perpignan.

After James' death in 1276, the kingdom was taken over by his second
son, who reigned under the name of James II of Majorca.
In 1344 James III was deposited by his cousin, king Peter IV of Aragon,
and was killed in 1349 in the attempt to reconquer the kingdom. The
title King of Mallorca existed after that in name only.

By the Pyrenees Treaty of 1659 between France and Spain the northern
Catalonia was geographically separated and given to France, and became
the province of Roussillon. Later the province was included in the
French department Pyrénées-Orientales with Perpignan (Perpinya) as
administrative center.

Collioure has always been a sought after place because of its opening to
the Mediterranean Sea, with two good harbours. easy defendable
against attacks. In 673 the city was occupied by the Visigoth king Wamba and
it is said that he gave the town the name "caucoliberis, which means "harbour to Elne", and
this shows that already then it was an important port city.
Archaeological findings show that the city was used by both Phoenicians,
Greeks and Romans.

Collioure has always kept a strong attachment to the Catalan culture,
and the Catalan language is still used by many.

The
city's motto in Catalan is: Sempre endavant, mai morirem which
means something like: "Always forward, we will never die"

When flags are hoisted in Collioure, as elsewhere in
Roussillon, usually at least three flags are used: the French, the EU
flag and the Catalan flag.

Residents
of Collioure truly feel like French, but still mostly Catalans.

Picture:

The Catalan flag "Quatre Barres" with red
stripes on yellow background, is supposed to be the oldest national
flag in Europe.

Catalonia (La Catalogne, Catalunya,
Cataluña) is first and foremost the spanish, autonomous region
in the north-eastern part of Spain, where the capital city is Barcelone.
But in the Catalan region is also included other landscapes, a.o.
most of the størstedelen av Pyrénées-Orientales in southern
France, in Spain called Catalunya Nord and in
France Pays Catalan.

For immemorial
times, people have been living here, and the areawas
part ofthe
pre-romanIberianculture.There
wereGreeks,and
Phoenician and
Carthaginian colonies,and
later the areabelongedto
the province ofHispaniain
the Roman Empire.For aScandinavian,
it is interestingto
know that, after theRoman
Empire went intodissolution,Cataloniawasconquered
by theGoths.First
came theVandals
andthen,from
about415,the
Visigoths(WestGoths).The
lastVisigoth
kingwasRoderic,
who lived until
the year711,when
the countrywasconquered
by the Muslims.

The
meaning of the nameCatalonia
is uncertain,
butone
of themeanings
derives from the
Visigothswho
calledthe
landGothia.As
weknow, they
probably
hadtheir
name from GotlandandGötaland.Gothiameans
"the land of
the Goths,and
is thesame
asGothLand
orGothlandia,
which may have becomeChatalonia.